Answer this question truthfully
### Question: What causes Dystonia?
### Response: It is not exactly clear what causes dystonias. There are two types of dystonia: acquired dystonia and idiopathic dystonia.
Acquired dystonia, also called secondary dystonia, results from environmental or disease-related damage to the basal ganglia. Birth injury (particularly due to lack of oxygen), certain infections, reactions to certain drugs, heavy-metal or carbon monoxide poisoning, trauma, or stroke can cause dystonic symptoms. Dystonias can also be symptoms of other diseases, some of which may be hereditary.
About half the cases of dystonia have no connection to disease or injury and are called primary or idiopathic dystonia. Of the primary dystonias, many cases appear to be inherited in a dominant manner; i.e., only one carrier parent need contribute the dystonia gene for the disease to occur, each child having a 50% chance of being a carrier. In dystonia, however, a carrier may or may not develop a dystonia and the symptoms may vary widely even among members of the same family. The product of one defective gene appears to be sufficient to cause the chemical imbalances that may lead to dystonia; but the possibility exists that another gene or genes and environmental factors may play a role. Researchers have identified more than 15 different genetic mutations that may contribute to dystonia.
Whether you have acquired or idiopathic dystonia, researchers think that it is caused by a problem in the part of the brain that handles messages about muscle contractions. Scientists suspect a defect in the body's ability to process a group of chemicals called neurotransmitters, which help cells in the brain communicate with each other.
The ultimate goals of research are to find the cause(s) of the dystonias so that they can be prevented, and to find ways to cure and/or more effectively treat people now affected. Scientists at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) laboratories have conducted detailed investigations of the pattern of muscle activity in persons with focal dystonias. One of the most important characteristics is the failure of reciprocal inhibition, a normal process in which muscles with opposite actions work without opposing each other. In dystonia, the tightening of muscles is associated with an abnormal pattern of muscles fighting each other. The search for the gene or genes responsible for some forms of dominantly inherited dystonias continues.